Search This Blog

Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Ukraine Says Troops Entered Rebel Held City

Volunteers take an oath of allegiance to Ukraine, before being sent to the eastern part of Ukraine to join the ranks of special battalion "Azov" fighting against pro-Russian separatists, in Kiev, Ukraine Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. Ukraine's national security council said government forces captured a district police station in Luhansk after bitter clashes, but the government also reported Sunday that separatists have shot down a Ukrainian fighter plane in Luhansk region after army troops entered deep inside a rebel-controlled city in the east.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Army troops have penetrated deep inside a rebel-controlled city in eastern Ukraine in what could prove a breakthrough development in the four-month-long conflict, the Ukrainian government said Sunday.

However, the military acknowledged that another one of its fighter planes was shot down by the separatists, who have been bullish about their ability to continue the battle and have bragged about receiving support from Russia. An Associated Press reporter spotted a column of several dozen heavy vehicles, including tanks and at least one rocket launcher, rolling through rebel-held territory on Sunday.

Ukraine's national security council said government forces captured a district police station in Luhansk on Saturday after bitter clashes in the Velika Vergunka neighborhood. Weeks of fighting have taken their toll on Luhansk, which city authorities say has reached the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. The siege mounted by government forces has ground delivery of basic provisions to a halt and cut off power and running water.

Although rebel forces have regularly yielded territory in recent weeks, they have continued to show formidable fighting capabilities. Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksiy Dmitrashkovsky said Sunday that the separatists shot down a Ukrainian fighter plane over the Luhansk region after it launched an attack on rebels. The pilot ejected and was taken to a secure place, he said. Another military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, later said that the status of the pilot was still being clarified.

The column of armored vehicles was spotted southeast of Luhansk outside a town very close to the Russian border and was heading west, deeper into rebel-held territory. It was unclear whether the column had come from Russia. Among the armored vehicles was a Strela-10, a short-range surface-to-air missile system capable of hitting targets up to 3,500 meters (11,500 feet.)

The area is just across the border from where a large Russian aid convoy is poised to cross with supplies intended for Luhansk and other afflicted zones. Part of the aid convoy headed to the frontier crossing on Sunday, but the 16 white trucks then stopped. The convoy of nearly 270 vehicles has been marooned for days in a town near the border amid objections from Ukraine, which initially complained that the mission was not authorized by the International Committee for the Red Cross.

The Red Cross, which would have responsibility for distributing the aid, on Saturday said the main holdup was a lack of security guarantees from all sides in the conflict. A large X-ray machine was brought to the Russian crossing point in the afternoon, and Paul Picard, the head of a border-monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said it would be used to inspect the cargo.

As the status of the Russian aid convoy remained uncertain, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France met in Berlin late Sunday to discuss ways to end the crisis. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter-Steinmeier said ahead of the meeting that the search for a political solution mustn't be neglected even as efforts are made to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in the rebel-held cities of Luhansk and Donetsk.

"Today's news shows that things could get worse," he told reporters. "If we aren't very careful ... we may slide further toward a direct confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian forces." But Steinmeier lamented that previous accords reached in Geneva and Berlin had failed to hold, and added: "There's no guarantee that today's talks will result in the success we're looking for." Officials familiar with the talks, who asked not to be named because they weren't authorized to brief reporters until the meetings were over, also dampened any expectations of a major breakthrough.

The four diplomats began the evening with a demonstration of cordiality for the cameras, walking together around a tranquil park on the shores of Berlin's Lake Tegel before retreating into a government villa for closed-doors discussions.

Fighting, including frequent shelling, is also affecting Donetsk, Ukraine's main rebel-held city. Ten civilians have been killed and eight wounded in the past 24 hours, city authorities reported Sunday.

The leader of the self-proclaimed separatist government in the Donetsk region, Alexander Zakharchenko, has boasted that his forces have been bolstered by 1,200 fighters who underwent training in Russia and were brought in at a "crucial moment." In a video of his speech that was posted online over the weekend, he said the fighters have 150 armored vehicles, including 30 tanks, and have gathered near a "corridor" along the Russian border. Zakharchenko did not specify whether the armored vehicles had also come from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, on Sunday denied that Russia had supplied any armored vehicles to the separatists. Lysenko, the military spokesman, said the government had information that separatists had received reinforcement from Russia, but added that there is evidence rebels are complaining about not receiving some of the equipment they have been promised.

Russia has consistently denied allegations that it is supporting the rebels with equipment or training. But Ukraine's president on Friday said that Ukraine had destroyed a large number of military vehicles that had recently crossed from Russia.

Translate

Popular Posts

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (CIO EAST AFRICA)--“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others,” a saying goes. When African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina laid out his vision to tilt the flow of capital into Africa by convening the first transaction-based investment forum, many did not see what was coming ahead.

One year down the road, the verdict is undisputed.

The three-day Africa Investment Forum ended November 9th in the South African capital exceeding the expectations of its conveners – The African Development Bank. Beyond participants’ commendations, a preliminary review of the meeting leaves room for much optimism.

The Forum highlighted a solid pipeline of projects and wealth of opportunities ready for investors. After a final review of all Boardroom projects, investor interest stood at close to US$40 billion, the organizers said Wednesday.

People pack the Las Vegas Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018, for the annual Marijuana Business Conference. Image: Chris KudialisBY CHRIS KUDIALISLAS VEGAS, NEVADA (LAS VEGAS SUN)--One step into the annual Marijuana Business Conference in Las Vegas and the massive growth of the industry is evident.

Small booths that used to squeeze into the Rio as recently as 2016 have tripled in size, offering CES-style presentations at the conference’s new home, the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Many of last year’s first-time show attendees are now among the record 1,100 exhibitors from 60 countries, having found their business niche in the exploding international market.

The convention, which just two years ago welcomed 10,000 industry members from across the world, is boasting more than 25,000 attendees this week. The three-day convention began Wednesday and concluded Friday.

Cassandra Farrington, CEO and co-founder of event host Marijuana Business Daily, said the show’s growth is largely…

DAKAR (REUTERS) — When Moustapha Dieng came down with stomach pains one day last month he did the sensible thing and went to a doctor in his hometown of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital.

The doctor prescribed a malaria treatment but the medicine cost too much for Dieng, a 30-year-old tailor, so he went to an unlicensed street vendor for pills on the cheap.

"It was too expensive at the pharmacy. I was forced to buy street drugs as they are less expensive," he said. Within days he was hospitalized — sickened by the very drugs that were supposed to cure him.

Tens of thousands of people in Africa die each year because of fake and counterfeit medication, an E.U.-funded report released on Tuesday said. The drugs are mainly made in China but also in India, Paraguay, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

ONITSHA, ANAMBRA (SUN NEWS ONLINE)--President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Chief John Nnia Nwodo has said Igbo people will not fight again through armed struggle to achieve Biafra republic.

Nwodo, who spoke while delivering the 9th Convocation lecture of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), at Igbariam campus, Anambra State, yesterday, described the Nigerian Biafran Civil War as the most devastating experience of Igbo with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Speaking on the topic: “The Igbo in the building of the Nigerian nation – the unrealised dreams,” he noted that the war claimed lives of millions of Igbo, while figures quoted by various reports on the war victims were totally unreliable, due to inaccessibility of data among Biafra.

Nwodo also recalled that several Igbo lost contact with their race and kinsmen during the war, when some of them were flown across some African countries while running f…

(THIS DAY NEWSPAPERS)--Nigerians in the diaspora remit over 15.8 billion pounds to the country annually, a study on ‘Nigeria Diaspora: Opportunities for Increasing the Development Impact of Nigeria’s Diaspora,’ has revealed.

The report which was conducted by the Dalberg Advisors on behalf of the Office of the Vice President, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, revealed that the United States and the United Kingdom account for 45 per cent of all remittance inflows to the country while Lagos and the south west received over 67 percent of these.

“Of the 15.8 billion pounds remitted to Nigeria in 2015, members of the diaspora in the US contributed 4.3 billion pounds while those in the UK sent 2.8 billion pounds.

Presenting the report which was sponsored by the United Kingdom Department for International Development’s (DFID) Policy Development Facility, Programme Manager, PDF II,…

In this Sunday, Sept 9, 2018 file photo, health workers walk with a boy suspected of having the Ebola virus at an Ebola treatment centre in Beni, Eastern Congo. The World Health Organization says the risk of the deadly Ebola virus spreading from Congo is now "very high" after two confirmed cases were discovered near the Uganda border. The outbreak in northeastern Congo is larger than the previous one in the northwest and more complicated for health officials with insecurity from rebel groups. As of Friday, Sept. 28 there were 124 confirmed Ebola cases including 71 deaths. (AP Photo/Al-hadji Kudra Maliro, file)

BY LENA H. SUNWASHINGTON (THE WASHINGTON POST) - The United States has no plans to re-deploy personnel to fight the growing Ebola outbreak on the ground in Congo because of worsening security concerns, administration officials said Wednesday.

The outbreak in northeastern Congo is taking place in an active war zone and has now become the country's largest in more tha…

PARADISE, CALIF. (AP) — More than a dozen coroner search and recovery teams looked for human remains from a Northern California wildfire that killed at least 42 -- making it the deadliest in state history -- as anxious relatives visited shelters and called police hoping to find loved ones alive.

Lisa Jordan drove 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from Yakima, Washington, to search for her uncle, Nick Clark, and his wife, Anne Clark, of Paradise, California. Anne Clark suffers from multiple sclerosis and is unable to walk. No one knows if they were able to evacuate, or even if their house still exists, she said.

“I’m staying hopeful,” she said. “Until the final word comes, you keep fighting against it.”

LAGOS (VANGUARD)--In its quest to brace up with current trends in global affairs, the University of Lagos, UNILAG has unveiled the Institute of Nigeria-China Development Studies.

Speaking during the unveiling held at the Senate Chambers, UNILAG Vice-Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe said: ‘’This new institute will create multiple avenues for the studies of Chinese civilization, side by side Nigerian civilization.’’

According to him, there is a need for both Nigeria and Chinese civilizations to interact with a view towards identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each, so as to provide a platform for mutual growth.

Some of the objectives for establishing the Institute of Nigeria-China Development Studies, he pointed out include: ‘’ To become a resource centre for Chinese investors in Nigeria as well as for Nigerian businesses and individuals who wish to collaborate, cooperate or work with each other. To create conducive environments for con…

(COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATION)--Nigerians will go to the polls for elections in February and March 2019. In line with its mandate, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reminded candidates that they are prohibited by law from campaigning before November 18, which marks ninety days before election day for federal offices, which is scheduled for February 16. Elections for state-level positions will take place on March 1 and campaigns will begin on December 2. The campaign period is a very delicate time and is often characterized by violence, abuse of power, hate speech, and corruption.

For the 2019 general elections at the federal level, Nigerians will elect a president and vice president, 109 Senators, and 360 members of the House of Representatives. In state level …

A worker collects cuttings from a marijuana plant at the Canopy Growth Corporation facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, January 4, 2018. REUTERS/Chris WattieBY JOHN FOLEYNOVEMBER 16, 2018LAS VEGAS (REUTERS BREAKING VIEWS) - Las Vegas made its reputation on sin. So it might seem fitting that the cannabis industry chose to locate its biggest annual gathering in the city this week. And just as Vegas has used conferences to try to clean up its reputation – it’s now the venue for more than 21,000 confabs a year - the weed business is shifting in that direction, too. The drug remains federally prohibited in the United States, and less than a month has passed since Canada made it legal for adult use. But a veneer of acceptability has started to settle on the sector. It’s as if cannabis is trying on its first suit and tie.

The companies converging at the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo have outgrown their hoodies alarmingly fast. Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth added a stock …